dionysusaur:Marcus Aurelius: The Taliban banned opium production. Opium only exploded after we took over.

You're saying they're not _all_ bad? I'm sure the Khmer Rouge had some good points, too.

No, I happen to think opium should be freely available. All drug laws are fundamentally a political crime. If the government wants to step in a regulate the market, that's fine, but this blanket ban on substances is just an excuse to put unpopular people into prison.

Marcus Aurelius:No, I happen to think opium should be freely available. All drug laws are fundamentally a political crime. If the government wants to step in a regulate the market, that's fine, but this blanket ban on substances is just an excuse to put unpopular people into prison.

But they've only been trying to stop its use for about two centuries. I'm sure any year now they'll finally succeed. Somewhere.

Just like those efforts to stop prostitution. Or gambling.

/subby//people thought it was an invisible man reference?///rule of three

Marcus Aurelius:dionysusaur: Marcus Aurelius: The Taliban banned opium production. Opium only exploded after we took over.

You're saying they're not _all_ bad? I'm sure the Khmer Rouge had some good points, too.

No, I happen to think opium should be freely available. All drug laws are fundamentally a political crime. If the government wants to step in a regulate the market, that's fine, but this blanket ban on substances is just an excuse to put unpopular people into prison.

Well I would say the primary force in keeping drugs illegal is money. The drug trade is huge. If it was legal you would have to report where this money is going and they don't want that.

You're saying they're not _all_ bad? I'm sure the Khmer Rouge had some good points, too.

No, I happen to think opium should be freely available. All drug laws are fundamentally a political crime. If the government wants to step in a regulate the market, that's fine, but this blanket ban on substances is just an excuse to put unpopular people into prison.

Well I would say the primary force in keeping drugs illegal is money. The drug trade is huge. If it was legal you would have to report where this money is going and they don't want that.

There was a perception in the 80s that the war on drugs was winnable. The people who pushed that idea are still around. In order to pass sane drug legislation, those people would have to admit that they, and by extension Reagan, were wrong. And they would literally rather die than do that.